Download Chapter 2 Lecture Notes

Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
Chapter 2
Core Case Study: Carrying Out a
Controlled Scientific Experiment
 F. Herbert Bormann, Gene Likens, et al.:
Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH (U.S.)
• Compared the loss of water and nutrients from an
uncut forest (control site) with one that had been
stripped (experimental site)
The Effects of Deforestation on the Loss
of Water and Soil Nutrients
2-1 What Is Science?
 Concept 2-1 Scientists collect data and develop
theories, models, and laws about how nature
works.
Science Is a Search for Order
in Nature (1)
 Science – an endeavor to discover how nature works and to use
that knowledge to make predictions about what is likely to happen in
nature
• Cause-and-Effect Patterns
 Scientific Process
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Identify a problem
Find out what is known about the problem
Ask a question to be investigated
Gather data
Hypothesize
Make testable predictions
Keep testing and making observations
Accept or reject the hypothesis
Science Is a Search for Order
in Nature (2)
 Important features of the scientific process
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Curiosity
Skepticism
Peer review
Reproducibility
Openness to new ideas
The Scientific Process
Science Focus: Easter Island: Revisions
to a Popular Environmental Story
 Some revisions in a popular environmental story
• Polynesians arrived about 800 years ago
• Population may have reached 3000
• Used trees in an unsustainable manner, but rats
may have multiplied and eaten the seeds of the
trees
Video: ABC News: Easter Island
Scientists Use Reasoning, Imagination,
and Creativity to Learn How Nature Works
 Important scientific tools
• Inductive reasoning – using specific observations
and measurements to arrive at a general conclusion
or hypothesis; “bottom-up” reasoning (specific to
general)
• Deductive reasoning – using logic to arrive at a
specific conclusion based on a generalization or
premise; “top-down” reasoning (general to specific)
 Scientists also use
• Intuition
• Imagination
• Creativity
Scientific Theories and Laws Are the
Most Important Results of Science
 Scientific theory – overwhelming body of
observation and measurements support a scientific
hypothesis
• Widely tested
• Supported by extensive evidence
• Accepted by most scientists in a particular area
 Scientific law, law of nature – well tested and
widely accepted description of what we find happening
over and over again in the same way in nature
 Paradigm shift – new discoveries and ideas
overthrow a well accepted theory or law; majority of
scientists accept a new paradigm
Science Focus: The Scientific Consensus
over Global Warming
 How much has the earth’s atmosphere warmed
during the last 50 years?
 How much of this warming is due to human
activity?
 How much is the atmosphere likely to warm in
the future?
 Will this affect climate?
 1988: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
The Results of Science Can Be Tentative,
Reliable, or Unreliable
 Tentative science, frontier science –
preliminary results; not widely tested or accepted
by peer review; not considered reliable
 Reliable science – data, hypotheses, theories,
and laws that are widely accepted; based on
self-correcting testing, peer review,
reproducibility, and debate
 Unreliable science – hypotheses and results
are presented as reliable without having
undergone peer review or have been discarded
by peer review
Environmental Science Has Some
Limitations
 Science can disprove things, but never prove anything
absolutely due to degree of uncertainty in
measurements, models, and observations
• Establish particular hypotheses, theories, or laws have a
high probability of being true while not being absolute
 Bias can be minimized by high standards and peer
review
 Statistical methods may be used to estimate very large
or very small numbers
 Environmental phenomena involve interacting variables
and complex interactions; too costly so create models
 Scientific process is limited to the natural world
Science Focus: Statistics and Probability
 Statistics
• Collect, organize, and interpret numerical data
 Probability
• The chance that something will happen or be
valid
2-2 What Is Matter?
 Concept 2-2 Matter consists of elements and
compounds, which are in turn made up of atoms,
ions, or molecules.
Matter Consists of Elements and
Compounds
 Matter
• Has mass and takes up space
 Elements
• Unique properties
• Cannot be broken down chemically into other
substances
 Compounds
• Two or more different elements bonded together
in fixed proportions
Elements Important to the Study of
Environmental Science
Atoms, Ions, and Molecules Are the
Building Blocks of Matter (1)
 Atomic theory - all elements are made of atoms
(smallest unit of matter to which an element can be
divided and retain chemical properties)
 Subatomic particles
• Protons (p) with positive charge and neutrons (0)
with no charge in nucleus
• Negatively charged electrons (e) orbit the nucleus
 Atomic number – protons in nucleus
 Mass number - protons plus neutrons
 Isotopes – form of elements with same atomic number
but different mass numbers
Model of a Carbon-12 Atom
Atoms, Ions, and Molecules Are the
Building Blocks of Matter (2)
 Ions – atom or group of atoms with one or more net
positive or negative charges
• Gain or lose electrons
• Form ionic compounds
• Nitrate
 pH
• Measure of acidity
• H+ and OH• Pure water – pH of 7, neutral solution
Animation: pH scale
Atoms, Ions, and Molecules Are the
Building Blocks of Matter (3)
 Molecule
• Two or more atoms of the same or different
elements held together by chemical bonds
 Chemical formula
• Number and each type atom or ion in a
compound
• Symbol for each element and subscripts
represent number of atoms or ions
Ions Important to the Study of
Environmental Science
Compounds Important to the Study of
Environmental Science
Organic Compounds Are the
Chemicals of Life
 Inorganic compounds
• “all other compounds”
 Organic compounds
• At least 2 carbon atoms combined with atoms of one
or more elements; CH4
• Hydrocarbons and chlorinated hydrocarbons
• Simple carbohydrates (simple sugars)
• Macromolecules: complex organic molecules; form
when monomers link together
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Complex carbohydrates (polymers)
Proteins (polymers)
Nucleic acids (polymers)
Lipids
Loss of NO3− from a Deforested
Watershed
Matter Comes to Life through Genes,
Chromosomes, and Cells
 Cells: fundamental units of life
 Genes: sequences of nucleotides within the
DNA
 Chromosomes: composed of many genes
Cells, Nuclei, Chromosomes, DNA,
and Genes
Matter Occurs in Various Physical Forms
 Differ in spacing and orderliness of atoms, ions,
or molecules
 Solid
• Most compact, orderly arrangement
 Liquid
 Gas
• Least compact, orderly arrangement
Some Forms of Matter Are More
Useful than Others
 Matter Quality – measure of how useful a form
of matter is to humans as a resource, based on
availability and concentration
 High-quality matter
• Highly concentrated, found near earth’s surface,
great potential as resource
 Low-quality matter
• Not highly concentrated, found deep
underground, little potential as resource
Examples of Differences in Matter Quality
Animation: Subatomic particles
Animation: Carbon bonds
Animation: Ionic bonds
Animation: Atomic number, mass
number
2-3 How Can Matter Change?
 Concept 2-3 When matter undergoes a
physical or chemical change, no atoms are
created or destroyed (the law of conservation of
matter).
Matter Undergoes Physical, Chemical,
and Nuclear Changes
 Physical change
 Chemical change, chemical reaction
 Nuclear change
• Natural radioactive decay
• Radioisotopes: unstable
• Nuclear fission
• Nuclear fusion
Types of Nuclear Changes
Fig. 2-7a, p. 41
Radioactive decay
Alpha particle
(helium-4 nucleus)
Radioactive isotope
Gamma rays
Beta particle (electron)
Fig. 2-7a, p. 41
Fig. 2-7b, p. 41
Nuclear fission
Uranium-235
Fission
fragment
n
Neutron
Energy
n
n
Energy
n
n
Uranium-235
Fission
fragment
n
Energy
Energy
Fig. 2-7b, p. 41
Fig. 2-7c, p. 41
Nuclear fusion
Reaction
conditions
Fuel
Proton
Neutron
Products
Helium-4 nucleus
Hydrogen-2
(deuterium nucleus)
100
million °C
Hydrogen-3
(tritium nucleus)
Energy
Neutron
Fig. 2-7c, p. 41
Radioactive decay
Alpha particle
(helium-4 nucleus)
Radioactive
isotope
Gamma rays
Beta particle (electron)
Uranium-235
Nuclear fission
Fission
fragment
Energy
n
n
Neutron
Energy
n
n
Energy
n
n
Uranium-235
Fission Energy
fragment
Nuclear fusion
Reaction
conditions
Fuel
Proton
Neutron
Hydrogen-2
(deuterium nucleus)
100
million °C
Hydrogen-3
(tritium nucleus)
Products
Helium-4 nucleus
Energy
Stepped Art
Neutron
Fig. 2-7, p. 41
We Cannot Create or Destroy Matter
 Law of conservation of matter
 Matter consumption
• Matter is converted from one form to another
Animation: Total energy remains
constant
Animation: Half-life
Animation: Isotopes
Animation: Positron-emission
tomography (PET)
Video: Nuclear energy
2-4 What is Energy and How Can It
Be Changed?
 Concept 2-4A When energy is converted from
one form to another in a physical or chemical
change, no energy is created or destroyed (first
law of thermodynamics).
 Concept 2-4B Whenever energy is changed
from one form to another, we end up with lowerquality or less usable energy than we started
with (second law of thermodynamics).
Energy Comes in Many Forms
 Kinetic energy
• Heat
• Transferred by radiation, conduction, or convection
• Electromagnetic radiation
 Potential energy
• Stored energy
• Can be changed into kinetic energy
The Spectrum of Electromagnetic
Radiation
10
5
0
Visible
Ultraviolet
Energy emitted from sun (kcal/cm2/min)
15
0.25
Infrared
1
2
Wavelength (micrometers)
2.5
3
Fig. 2-8, p. 42
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
in Living Systems
Chemical
energy
(photosynthesis)
Solar
energy
Waste
heat
Waste
heat
Mechanical
energy
(moving,
thinking, living)
Chemical
energy
(food)
Waste
heat
Waste
heat
Fig. 2-9, p. 43
Some Types of Energy Are More
Useful Than Others
 High-quality energy
 Low-quality energy
Energy Changes Are Governed by Two
Scientific Laws
 First Law of Thermodynamics
• Energy input always equals energy output
 Second Law of Thermodynamics
• Energy always goes from a more useful to a less
useful form when it changes from one form to
another
 Energy efficiency or productivity
Active Figure: Energy flow
Active Figure: Visible light
Animation: Martian doing mechanical
work
2-5 What Are Systems and How Do They
Respond to Change?
 Concept 2-5A Systems have inputs, flows, and
outputs of matter and energy, and their behavior
can be affected by feedback.
 Concept 2-5B Life, human systems, and the
earth’s life support systems must conform to the
law of conservation of matter and the two laws of
thermodynamics.
Systems Have Inputs, Flows,
and Outputs
 System
• Inputs from the environment
• Flows, throughputs
• Outputs
Inputs, Throughput, and Outputs of an
Economic System
Energy Inputs
Throughputs
Energy
resources
Matter
resources
Information
Outputs
Heat
Economy
Waste and
pollution
Goods and
services
Fig. 2-10, p. 44
Systems Respond to Change through
Feedback Loops
 Positive feedback loop
 Negative, or corrective, feedback loop
Positive Feedback Loop
Negative Feedback Loop
Time Delays Can Allow a System to
Reach a Tipping Point
 Time delays vary
• Between the input of a feedback stimulus and the
response to it
 Tipping point, threshold level
• Causes a shift in the behavior of a system
System Effects Can Be Amplified
through Synergy
 Synergistic interaction, synergy
• Helpful
• Harmful
• E.g., Smoking and inhaling asbestos particles
Human Activities Can Have Unintended
Harmful Results
 Deforested areas turning to desert
 Coral reefs dying
 Glaciers melting
 Sea levels rising
Animation: Economic types
Animation: Feedback control of
temperature